Chita Operations

Chita Operations
Part of the Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War

The Chita White Cossack Regiment.
Date10 April - 31 October 1920
Location
Result Far Eastern Republic victory
Belligerents

Far Eastern Republic Far Eastern Republic

  • People's Revolutionary Army

Russian Empire Eastern Okraina

 Japan
Commanders and leaders
Far Eastern Republic Genrich Eiche Russian Empire Grigory Semyonov
Empire of Japan Yui Mitsue
Strength
Far Eastern Republic 17,600 soldiers
107 machine guns
31 artillery pieces
4 armored trains
4 tanks
Russian Empire 14,600 soldiers
369 machine guns
100 artillery pieces
18 armored trains

The Chita Operations (Russian: Читинские Операции) were a series of military engagements fought in the Russian Civil War. On 10 April 1920, the army of the Far Eastern Republic (FER) launched the first operation, aiming at destroying the White Movement's Chita holdup in east Transbaikal which prevented it from connecting with its allies in Primorsky Krai. The first operation ended three days later, a second offensive (25 April–5 May) likewise failed to achieve its final objectives. Fighting continued, however neither side could boast significant territorial gains. On 15 July, the FER signed the Gongota Agreement of 1920 with Japan, the latter's withdrawal from Transbaikal severely weakened the Whites. The FER army was restructured and reinforced by its new commander Genrich Eiche, while morale under Grigory Semyonov's White units plummeted. On 1 October, Eiche launched the final Chita operation, by the end of the month the area of the Chita holdup had been subjugated.